Marine: Cleaner Seas report
Organising to protect the seas
Who does what in the UK?
The
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), through
its Marine, Land and Liability division, has both the coordinating role
on marine environment policy and responsibility for policy on control of
marine pollution from land-based sources. Its marine research pro-gramme
(about £1.5 million a year) covers work on rivers, estuaries and aspects
of the marine environment not covered elsewhere. The Scottish Office Agriculture,
Environment and Fisheries Department (SOAEFD) and Welsh Office (WO) exercise
similar environmental responsibilities to DETR. In addition, the DETR is
responsible for national marine policy with regard to ports and shipping;
and, through the the Inter-Departmental Group, the coordination of coastal
policy across Government.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and SOAEFD have responsibilities for fisheries management, disposal of waste at sea and coastal protection. These departments have a major fisheries and marine environment research programme (about £20 million a year), a fleet of ocean-going research vessels, a network of marine labora-tories, and advise generally on marine environment protection.
The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (DOENI) exercises environmental protection responsibilities in the province. Fisheries are managed by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI). Both departments have marine research programmes.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is responsible for the regulation of discharges and emissions from the oil and gas industry and for ensuring minimisation of wider environmental impact.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) contributes towards oceanographic research and meteorology.
The Environment Agency (EA) in England and Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland monitor environmental quality and control discharges to rivers, estuaries and coastal waters. MAFF and SOAEFD are consulted by the EA and SEPA (respectively) on coastal discharges.
The
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is a forum through which the
three country nature conservation agencies, the Countryside Council for
Wales, English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage, deliver their special
statutory responsibilities for Great Britain as a whole and internationally.
With respect to the marine environment, their responsibilities contribute
to sustaining and enriching the biological diversity of natural ecosystems.
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), funded through the Office of Science and Technology (OST) which forms part of DTI, has a major programme of marine research. Work includes the Land-Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS), a £30 million project spanning several years to investigate the transfer of materials (including sediments and pollutants) from catchment basins to shelf seas and the deep ocean. NERC also supports the Sea Mammal Research Unit and maintains major marine research laboratories.
Total publicly funded research expenditure in the UK on the marine environment has been estimated at over £30 million per annum.
Page last modified:
01 March 2005
Page published: 21 September 1988